446 How to Build a Massive Social Media Following

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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 446 on how to build a massive social media following.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  Hey guys, I'm going to talk about the power of social media and how to build a massive online following. And really, why should we be focusing on social media? Why is it so important? Why is it meaningful? Over the last nine years, I've been building my following and I've realized that without being on social media, I would have a fraction of the opportunities I have right now. I would have a fraction of the sales I get right now for my business. I would have a fraction of the listeners of my podcast. My book launch would not have been successful. All these things relate to the success of my social media following. And if I didn't have the audience that I have on social media, I'm talking about YouTube,

• 1:15Lewis Howes?

  I'm talking about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, all these places where we've built a following and engaged an audience. If we didn't have that, my business would be a fraction of what it is. And a lot of businesses out there would be a fraction of what they are if they didn't have the audience that they have on social media. So this is not just a thing that we can maybe consider in the future, or maybe we can think about. It's a must if you want to really accelerate your business and create the maximum opportunities. Also, all of the side opportunities that have come from having a large social media following, from the speaking gigs, from the other sponsorship opportunities I get, from

• 1:56Lewis Howes?

  the consulting deals, from the investment deals, all the other things that come from having an audience and having some type of influence online is extremely powerful and important. And again, it wouldn't have happened. None of this would happen without an audience on social media. So really make sure that you're focusing on how can I build my audience and understand the importance of social media. It's not just a thing that maybe you should consider. It's a thing you really need to be focusing on, especially with the digital age and how everything is moving online today. So focus your energy on a long-term strategy. And in this episode, we're talking about the seven key points to build a massive social media following.

• 2:41Lewis Howes?

  So let's dive in.

• 2:46Lewis Howes?

  What's up, guys? Lewis Howes here and welcome to this episode 446 on how to build a massive social media following. Now, I get this a lot. A lot of people are asking me, how are you growing your following? And how are you leveraging it to generate more sales for your business and services? So in today's episode, we're covering the top seven ways to build a massive social media following. And at the end, I'm going to give you a link for a free download on our top resources and tools for building, growing and automating this growth as well. Now, this is a topic that a lot of people are asking about, but only a few people actually get it right. And think about your most favorite accounts that you like to follow, whether it be on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter.

• 3:30Lewis Howes?

  Think about, there's only really a few people in an industry that are doing it extremely well, that seem to have the right content, to seem to have the right engagement, and that seem to have the right growth. So I've been analyzing this for the last nine years as I've been building my social media following. And I'm going to break down again, the top seven ways on how you can do it right now. Point number one, focus on authenticity over trying to be perfect. Now, a lot of people I see are paralyzed by their perfectionism. They're constantly trying to have the right image and the right text and the right things to say all the time, but it actually holds them back from being real, from being a human being. We really connect with people who are authentic instead of people who are trying to be someone they're not.

• 4:14Lewis Howes?

  So don't try to put information out there that's not you, that isn't really who you're all about. About or what's your brand is all about. Make sure you have a unique voice for your brand and be consistent with that unique voice. Point number two is to be consistent. Now, this is with your posting scheduling. You make sure you're doing it on a consistent daily basis or weekly basis. Wherever you're going to be posting makes you have a timeline. How frequently are you going to do it? Don't post 10 times in one day and then one time another day or not at all. Make sure people know what to expect based on what you're going to be posting and be consistent with that. Also be consistent with the style.

• 4:56Lewis Howes?

  Don't try to do a bunch of videos or images in one certain way. And then the next day, switch all up for something different. Be consistent for a while to build up a theme and a voice with that consistency. Point number three, make sure you find your voice and speak to a targeted audience. Figure out who is exactly your customer or your follower or your fan base. Figure out who that person is. Think inside their mind, inside their heart. What are their biggest needs, their challenges? And speak to that individual. Figure out who they are and make sure you're speaking to them. Number four, don't make it about you. Don't make it all about what you're up to constantly. Make sure you're sharing what other people are doing.

• 5:40Lewis Howes?

  Collaborate with other individuals, either in your space or other businesses. Talk about other resources than what you provide and share great content from other people. Again, be more of a curator and a facilitator than just always talking about me, me, me or your own brand constantly. The more value you can add by curating information and giving the best resources, the more people you will attract to following you and your brand as well. Number five, make sure to play the long game. You're not going to build this massive following overnight. It's just not going to happen. You may have a couple of cool pieces of content that take off and get you a bunch of followers in a week or a month or something like that, and that's cool and that's a bonus.

• 6:24Lewis Howes?

  But to keep them is all about being engaged over the long haul. It's having a strategy. A game plan about being consistent over time, consistently adding value, engaging with your audience, making sure you're not just trying to build really quickly and then lose it all very fast as well. So think about this as a long-term game, a long-term strategy of what you're going to do to cultivate, to build, to engage the audience over time. Number six, make sure you're giving massive value. There's so much noise out there on social media right now. And if you're just doing the same thing that everyone else is doing, you're going to get stuck in the noise. So make sure you're standing out by adding value.

• 7:06Lewis Howes?

  Have someone on your team or make sure yourself that you're finding the top resources, that you're giving the best value, the best information, that you're offering tools and solutions for your audience or entertainment or humor, whatever it is that you're looking to do to build. Make sure you're really thinking about value first, not just, oh, I said I was going to post today at this time, so I gotta put something out there. Make sure everything is intentional, useful, helpful, and adds value to whoever is going to see that post. Number seven, make sure you're exploring different media outlets and different media types. Now, if you're a written person, you like to write, then maybe you're just going to be writing down information and posting quotes and written text.

• 7:50Lewis Howes?

  Visual works extremely well on social media, so make sure you're playing with photography, design, and also video is working extremely well. So figure out which medium works best for you, but also be open to learning and growing and testing different medias. Obviously, I use audio with the podcast, I use video with my YouTube channel, and I use that video content. And I posted on other sites as well with micro content. We're posting quotes and just helpful resources with written text and images for people to share. So figure out what works best for you, what works best for your brand, your voice, your consistency, the unique gifts that you have in order to create that information. Use different mediums and figure out what works best for you.

• 8:35Lewis Howes?

  Some of the accounts that I like in my own industry are people like The Rock, Shaleen Johnson, I like Dillionaire on Instagram and Think Grow Prosper on Instagram as well. The things I like about them is they're unique. They have their own voice. They're not trying to be someone they're not. They are consistent. They're constantly adding value and they collaborate with other people. They're offering a lot of value. That's the key thing that they're doing, but they're all standing out and they're applying these seven different strategies. That's helped them build their following. That's helped them cultivate and engage with that audience. And really help that audience convert into sales and other things they're looking for them to do.

• 9:17Lewis Howes?

  So make sure to follow some of those accounts to see what I like in my industry, people who are doing it well. And exactly based on these seven principles, they're doing all of them themselves. So check them out and let me know what you think. Also, leave a comment below on this video or on the show notes here about the top pages that you like. People who are doing it well, brands who are doing it well, who've built incredible social media followings, but also just have a unique voice. And they stand out from the crowd. Who are those individuals, those brands, and what are those pages? Leave a comment below with your favorites and maybe we'll feature them in a future episode. Again, these are my top seven ways to build a massive social media following.

• 9:59Lewis Howes?

  And it really boils down to thinking about the long term. Again, nothing is going to happen overnight. I've been doing this for over nine years now and I'm still learning and growing. And it's all about that long-term growth. So apply each one of these seven principles. Make sure you're following them all. And if you're not, make sure to optimize them to the best of your ability right now for that long-term growth. Also, we've got a free report download with our top tools and resources for how to automate, how to grow, how to manage, and schedule all of your social media strategy as well. So click the link below in the show notes or on this video on YouTube, or it'll be right here on the YouTube video somewhere. Make sure to click on it.

• 10:43Lewis Howes?

  It's a free download for our top tools on how to grow your audience in an automated. Massive way. Go to the show notes at lewishouse.com/446 to get the link right there. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Again, lewishouse.com/446 to get all the show notes. And also go to lewishouse.com/social to get our top resources on how to build, manage, and schedule your social media following. Again, this is the top resources that we use to automate everything online with our engagement, our growth, our scheduling, our content creation around social media, and what some of the top brands and individuals are using as well for their resources

• 11:27Lewis Howes?

  for audience growth and automation. So again, make sure to go to lewishouse.com/social to download the free PDF right now. This is a powerful episode. Again, these are some key principles. If you found this valuable, please share it with your friends. lewishouse.com/446. Leave a comment below on the show notes and talk about the key element that you need to add into your social media following that you're not doing. Maybe you're not as consistent. Maybe you haven't found your unique voice yet. Figure out what that is and leave a comment below. Also, make sure again to share this with your friends and let them know about the free report at lewishouse.com/social.

• 12:10Lewis Howes?

  Hope you guys enjoyed this one and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.